It really was "the perfect option."

Think about that for a minute.

I have a confession to make: This loss to tech doesn't bother me that much.

Oh, I mean, it bothers me. But I knew we didn't have the fortitude to break something like that drought record. That's too much mojo for now.

“I really don’t (expect coaching changes),” Richt said. “We’re going to get better, and we’re going to do a better job next year, I can promise you that.”

Good enough for me. I suggest you address the not tackling first, if I may be so bold.

What's that you say? “I’m not sure we tackled enough,” Richt said. Agreed.

Congratulations to Georgia tech. They deserved it and they beat us.


We interrupt this post for additional recovery through music.

I have heard some say that the crowd was unimpressive. I might say uninspired. At times, given the size of the crowd, the rain, and the noon kickoff, I thought there was good participation.

But perhaps we grew disinterested, too. To me, it felt like the expected simply coming true, despite a very well-played first half. We should be glad Florida wasn't there.

Somebody needs to kick that attitude in the face.

*****
Kid, once I was the very best.

Image: Athens Banner-Herald.

The Munson honoring went very well. There were so many cameras down there I couldn't believe they all could get a shot. Larry seemed much more than pleased. Did we force a tear out of that guy? That'd be something. I was surprised they tried to do a Dooley ceremony at halftime.

How awesome was that Knowshon-is-going-score-no-matter-what touchdown?

How crazy was that Matt-Stafford-is-a-pinball-and-then-he- just-missed-Massaquoi play?

How many tackles did Rennie Curran have? Elleven. He led the team, obviously.

Massaquoi had 11 catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Knowshon got 17 carries for 94 yards after an on-fire opening. He caught 4 balls for 74 yards. The team rushed for 81 yards total.


Tech attempted 0 passes in the second half.
Image: Jason Vorhees, The Telegraph.

For those wondering, we pick up Arkansas, at Arkansas, next year from the west. LSU comes to Athens. That opener at Okie State looks like a potential doozy.

There's a bye week before the Florida game and we play Tennessee Tech before the Auburn game, which is at home.

Home games in bold:

Sept. 5, at Oklahoma State
Sept. 12, South Carolina
Sept. 19, at Arkansas
Sept. 26, Arizona State
Oct. 3, LSU
Oct. 10, at Tennessee
Oct. 17, at Vanderbilt
Oct. 31, Florida (at Jacksonville)
Nov. 7, Tennessee Tech
Nov. 14, Auburn
Nov. 21, Kentucky
Nov. 28, at Georgia Tech

I saw on ESPN that Texas overtook Michigan (CORRECTION: I meant Notre Dame) on the all-time wins list on Thursday.

This was the top 10 before the 2008 season started, according to Wikipedia. Our media guide has us 11th on the list with 693 before this season started.

Was I pointing to 2008? I meant 2009.

The 2008 season will eventually be defined by how we react to the roots of this disappointment and what it means for 2009. For starters, I suggest we learn to tackle and develop some awesome defensive ends.

No offense, Demarcus Dobbs. You and the other guys doing your best are the man.

If the tech loss leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth, if it affects decisions to go to the NFL, if it recommits everyone to success, it will have served a purpose.

Plus there's no way we lose to tech next year now... right?

The wheel goes round and round. If it comes up winner next year, we’ll look at 2008 as a character builder. If not, it will have been a heart-aching waste of talent.

UPDATE: "Waste" is too strong a word, if only by a little bit.

Recovery through music:

I told you that the life goes up and down...


Unlike the tech game, the second half is better.

If'n you don't know by now

2008 season, it just never worked out between us.


We never did too much tacklin' anyway.

End of the show

Dan: This is the whole season.

Joe: I'm willing to sacrifice The Varsity.

Me: The end of the season is not about hating tech. It's about enjoying beating tech.



Weather ;) Report.

Mumbai police: It's over.

AP reporting:

MUMBAI, India – Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that left more than 150 people dead and rocked the nation.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 400-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found six hostages dead.

More than 150 people were killed and several hundred wounded in the violence that started when more than a dozen assailants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai Wednesday night. Fifteen foreigners were among the dead.

The same all the world over

No tech bashing for now.


Image, The Telegraph (London).

The Mumbai Mirror. Understandably, it's loading slowly.

The New York Times:

The Mumbai assault, by contrast, was “uniquely disturbing,” said Sajjan Gohel, a security expert in London, because it seemed directed at foreigners, involved hostage taking and was aimed at multiple “soft, symbolic targets.” The attacks “aimed to create maximum terror and human carnage and damage the economy,” he said in a telephone interview.

A piece from DNA India:

No one was being allowed, but I somehow sneaked in. Once inside, I came to know that the terrorists were on the sixth floor. They tried to take people in rooms there hostage, but didn’t succeed as the rooms were locked.

Minutes later, policemen tried to reach the upper floors, but were stopped in their tracks by grenades hurled by the terrorists. I saw at least three grenades fly.

After the second grenade exploded, shattering glasses and shaking the entire hotel building, I was reduced to tears.

Seeing me shaking in fear, a constable offered solace. “Aap ghabrao mat, mar jaoonga par tumhe kuch naahin hone doonga,” he assured me but soon began crying as the terrorists opened another round of fire.

Stafford: "Not sure" about next year

This is the first piece I've seen (surely I've missed some) quoting Matt Stafford directly on whether he'll declare for the NFL draft next year. From The Augusta Chronicle:

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but if it is the last time, hopefully I'm going to leave on top. But there could be another year to come. I'm not sure yet."

Picked it up off of Dawgbone.net, which provides an excellent clipping service, among other things.

So far the word on Knowshon is that he's not thinking about it.

If you want them to stay, you might as well go here. It couldn't hurt. You might write a little message to Jeff Owens and Asher Allen while you're at it.

I'm thankful that we own you. And for Munson.

I've enjoyed a lot of tech games over the years. They're usually good games, and we almost always come out winners, even when they cheat.

But there are two favorites. The first is the 51-7 beating in 2002 at Sanford Stadium. It capped a wondrous season, and that's the most fun I've had at Sanford outside of the Blackout last year vs. Auburn.

This is the other one:



What I've always remembered was one of Munson's great closers from that game: "Our heart, that was torn out and bleeding, we picked it up and we stuck it back inside."

But at one point Larry also says:

"It could not have happened. And it ain't over yet. Scott Howard don't you say anything. You don't say anything here. You're the one that got us into all this trouble. ... Last play of the game, I think. Five seconds. What if the clock's been wrong all this time?"

God bless you, Larry Munson. You're at least as insane as me, but you're a whole lot better at it.

UPDATE: I'm planning on a separate reminder post, but might as well remind you here that Munson will honored between the first and second quarters of Saturday's game. It will be his first time on the field at Sanford Stadium during a game, according to The AJC.

Exactly where on the field, I don't know. My buddy Joe says they should stop the whole thing and do it on the 50 yard line. Munson, he said, is the face of Georgia football.

"It's the Ugas, and then him, and then everybody else," he said.

In a world that includes Herschel and Dooley, that's saying one hell of a lot. It's also the truth.

Today's reason to laugh at tech: All of the above

One of our sports writers had this old tech media guide on his desk.

That is one fine suit Homer Rice is wearing. I'm assuming he was going for the plantation owner look.

This would have been from Bill Curry's first year as head coach. Click on the image to make it larger. He looks kind of like a deer in headlights, doesn't he? They won one game that year, beating Memphis State.

Anyone remember what we were doing back then?

Little known facts from this media guide: Jon Fabris was on that tech coaching staff, as were Romeo Crennel (who sported a sweet afro) and Mac McWhorter.

"My first thought is to say, 'To hell with Georgia.'"

"My first thought is to say, 'To hell with Georgia.' That's the goal we made No. 1 this year, to beat those cats in Athens. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I like how we're peaking right now. ...

"They had an off week to kind of stew about it and think about how we're going to attack 'em," Richard said, breaking into a sly grin. "I hope they enjoyed the game."


Georgia tech senior defensive lineman Darryl Richard in The Sporting News.

Image: The ACC.

"Rennie Curran is the Georgia way."

The Telegraph ran a piece Sunday about Rennie Curran, and David Hale posted some excellent extra quotes on his blog this weekend.

But, really, all you need to know about the sophomore tackling machine is in this quote, from Dave Van Halanger:

When you've got to do something – academics, weight training, practice – do it with everything you've got. Then when you're done, just be sociable. Rennie is great example of everything – we call it the Georgia way. It's just how you do it. Well, what is that? Rennie Curran is the Georgia way. He does everything the right way.

Massaquoi!

SEC leading receiver A.J. Green is on pace for the best single season in Georgia history, but senior Mohamed Massaquoi is having a good year himself.

David Hale did a nice piece on Massaquoi last week that talked about his leadership, on and off the field:

“He’s a football player,” (junior WR Kris) Durham said. “That’s just a good word. Some people are receivers, he’s a football player. He’s on special teams, he’s on punt return, he’s out there blocking so someone else can get the big play. You see Knowshon break one, who’s the first guy to congratulate him? Who’s making the key block? It’s Mohamed.”

Massaquoi has also put up some very solid numbers in his career to date.

This year, he's got 46 catches for 730 yards and 5 touchdowns. For his career it's 146 catches for 2,092 yards and 13 touchdowns.

That's good enough for fourth all time in receiving yards, and he's sure to overtake Lindsay Scott. From the media guide:

Terrence Edwards, 3,093 yards
Fred Gibson, 2,884 yards
Brice Hunter, 2,373 yards
Lindsay Scott, 2,098 yards
Mohamed Massaquoi, 2,092 yards
Reggie Brown, 2,008 yards

Freaking tech, etc.

It's not the first time it's happened, but it's always disturbing. I'm afraid of Georgia tech's football team. Georgia tech the entity continues to make me laugh and shake my head in disappointment that the word "Georgia" is in their name.

Except for those astronaut guys. They're probably at least a little badass.

Plus my grandfather (by marriage) and about four other tech grads I know. They're alright. I mostly feel sorry for them.
----
Check out the chart David Hale's got here. We are so profitable. The next time we make the BCS, I'd love to see the Athletic Association give long-time season ticket holders a little break on donation or ticket prices.
----
You gotta figure it won't make much of a difference. But you also don't want Matt or Knowshon to stop by and not see a whole bunch of people signing this thing.

So visit Don't Go Dawgs and leave Stafford and Moreno a message. And I wouldn't mind see Jeff Owens added to that, either.
----
Man, look at all these injuries. This season may end up being a testament to our depth, Stacy Searels, Matt Stafford, Knowshon, our inability to tackle and the dangers of relying on freshman kickers and shaky special teams play in general.

Telegraph's Bulldog beat writer live chat today

Don't forget David Hale is holding a live chat at 2 p.m. today. Click here to join in, and you can ask questions before it begins.

Suggested question: Hey David, how come we don't tackle so good no more?

Coach Goff: This year "probably the toughest Georgia tech game we've had in a long, long time."

My actual job is covering politics for The Macon Telegraph. This afternoon Sen. Saxby Chambliss was in Perry for a rally, and Coach Ray Goff (Qb: '73-'76; captain, SEC player of the year for SEC champions in '76; Head Coach: '89-'95) was there.

Coach Goff, who has moved to Lake Blackshear, was kind enough to do a little video interview.

Nothing hard hitting. I just asked him what he thought of this year's team, why the wheels seem to come off sometimes in football, whether anyone ever calls one of his "Zaxby's" and asks to speak to "Saxby" and how he came to be wearing a yellow-and-blue shirt on Wednesday.

And I let him put in a plug for Sen. Chambliss. If Jim Martin's campaign can produce Jim Donnan, the same rules apply.

Today's reason to dislike tech

Comes from Terence Moore. But, due to my strict policy of not linking to Terence Moore, I suggest that you not read it.

Allow me to summarize instead: tech's 31 fumbles in 10 games have nothing to do with running the option.

"I would have to go back and look, but I would venture to think that, probably in the 10 games we’ve played, I would doubt that we’ve had more than 10 fumbles that had anything to do with the offense.”
- tech Coach Paul Johnson

This may lead you to wonder: Travis, how many fumbles did tech have in 2007 and 2006? The answer is 27 and 20.

Muschamp, Hoop Dawgs, Crazy Pirate, Sapp, 2009

Though I generally think "Head Coach In Waiting" deals are weird, congratulations to Will Muschamp (91-94, defensive co-captain) on his new deal at Texas.

I hope this doesn't affect my plan to have him replace Coach Richt in 20 years, after Richt's 10th National Title. Of course, Georgia tech won't be on our schedule anymore, having dismantled their football program and apologized to the state...
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Hoop Dawgs go down to Loyola-Chicago by 21 points? Really? C'mon!
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Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach is talking about a 64-team college football playoff.

That't not going to happen. I don't want it to happen. But think, just for a minute, how awesome that would be to do just once... maybe in lieu of a regular season...
----
I was focused on the the drought as a reason to dislike tech in the last post, instead of focusing on the drought breaker. I would like to note that Theron Sapp, like my father, went to Lanier High School in Macon. From The Georgia Trend article:

In his first scrimmage, he drove into the defensive team's thickest part of the middle and was knocked head over heels in a major pileup, suffering three cracked vertebrae in his neck. His surgeon told him he should never play football again, that even a slight blow to the wrong place could be fatal.

Coaches Butts and Quenton Lumpkin came to the hospital and told Sapp he had his scholarship no matter what. He spent his entire freshman year at Georgia in a head-pelvis body cast. Coach Butts told him he should not play football again but Sapp convinced his mentor otherwise. He spent his sophomore year on the B team and his junior and senior years on the varsity, bulling his way up the middle 258 times, right smack in the thick of things.

----
Hell, yes, Geno and Asher say they're coming back for their senior seasons. Not unexpected, but absolutely huge.

Remember why we hate them

One of the things I love about College Football: It's absolutely acceptable to hold grudges about things that happened 25 years before you were born.

Sen. Blutarsky, linking to Georgia Trend, provides today's reason to dislike Georgia tech and remember the old gridiron heroes.

Just think about this line for a second:

Fourth and goal was a gutsy call for a team that hadn’t scored a touchdown in four years.

Then realize that ain't the half of it.

1948: Won, 21-13, Athens
1949: Lost, 6-7, Atlanta
1950: Lost, 0-7, Athens
1951: Lost, 6-48, Atlanta
1952: Lost, 9-23, Athens
1953: Lost, 12-28, Atlanta
1954: Lost, 3-7, Athens
1955: Lost, 3-21, Atlanta
1956: Lost, 0-35, Athens
1957: Won, 7-0, Atlanta

That, my friends, is the longest winning or losing streak in the history of the Georgia / Georgia tech series. Unless we beat them Nov. 29. Then it will be tied for first. Then, in 2009, that record can fall.

Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Nov. 29

A great A.J. story and a few other Richt lines

All from Coach Richt's visit to Macon this evening...

A.J. Green committed pretty early, but of course he was a big-time prospect, so other schools kept recruiting him. And the in-state schools, South Carolina and Clemson, wanted him bad.

So one day Steve Spurrier was going to be at Green's high school to try to talk him into coming to South Carolina.

"He skipped school that day so he didn't have to bump into him. ..." Richt said. "So I knew he was my kind of guy."

Of course, Richt noted that he generally does not approve of skipping school.
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Richt on a playoff:

"I think it's gonna happen. I don't know how quickly. I was thinking, if the president elect of the United States wants a playoff, there's probably a pretty good chance we're gonna get a playoff. I would think the president of the United States might be the only person who might get a playoff system.

"I think four might be the starting point. I think eight, in my opinion, would be the most that will happen any time in the near future. I'm afraid if you go to 16 teams you might devalue the regular season to the point where games are not nearly as meaningful. I think it would really disrupt the post-season and the bowl season. I think four would be extremely simple to do."

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Tatnall Square Academy here in Macon has apparently averaged 37 points a game and they're giving up 5 a game. So Richt turned to one of their coaches and said: "That seems like a pretty boring game to me. ... Don't you want to take it down to the last play, couple weeks in a row? Keep the T.V. ratings up? Raycom loves us right now."
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In his opening remarks, Richt said the last time he was at a Macon Touchdown Club meeting, they were raising money to drill wells in Africa. They drilled three and one of them has a "big fat G" on it now.

"Some people don't even have water to drink," he said. "So now let's talk about being 9-2."
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On the Florida game being in Jacksonville: "It's not very neutral. ... I wouldn't hold my breath (on the location changing)."
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The number of scholarships Georgia will have to give this year is hard to predict, "but I doubt it goes to 25."